Broadcast from the Den of Madness

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The nerd developers of GM held a live broadcast every year-end as their official channel for communication.

The official name was GM Con.

But personally, Lee Shin preferred to call it something else.

The inhuman den of madness.

If someone told you this was a real live broadcast, would you believe them?

A third-generation chaebol-level Black man shouting “K-Jesus,” a Western noona who treated One Piece like her personal bible, and Geum Tae-yang, who was suspiciously devoted to furries.

Any one of them would pose a serious threat to civilized society. Yet here all three were, unleashing the full extent of their dizzying nerd power for the world to see.

The schedule said two hours.

But that two-hour limit had never once been respected. Their uncontrollable nerd energy could never be contained in a mere two hours.

GM was the game created by these three monsters from the inhuman den of madness. Which meant the game was packed with that much hidden lore and setting.

The insanely cool concept of splitting a magic stone of identical frequency into three parts and placing them on the head for Force, the heart for Circle, and the dantian for ki to awaken mana.

They wanted to insert an actual “manufacturing process” into what had only been story, letting users experience the feeling of crafting the finished product themselves.

Yeongdo, at a Korean barbecue restaurant.

Thanks to Lee Shin treating the entire Mir Guild to lavish meals here every month, the place had practically become an exclusive Mir Guild spot. Today, he had invited Jo Gang-hun’s family.

“Eat as much as you want. Order anything you like without hesitation.”

“No, we couldn’t possibly…”

“Then hyung, I’ll have the…”

“Jo Jin-hun, you little—!”

“What? He said to order more.”

“Hahaha! It’s fine. You closed your shop to give us your precious time. The meat is the least of our worries. Jin-hun, here’s the menu. Order whatever you want.”

Jo Gang-hun’s parents blushed in embarrassment at their second son’s shameless behavior, but Lee Shin genuinely didn’t mind.

Even if the kid ate ten million won worth—or twenty million won worth—what did it matter?

The incredible gift standing before him made such trivial sums meaningless.

The status window floating beside Jo Gang-hun’s head held enormous meaning for Lee Shin.

It wasn’t simply for verification. What Lee Shin paid closest attention to was the very top of the window.

‘Jo Gang-hun. A hunter who serves as a regular starter in League 2. His specialty is wide-area earth magic using “Earth Tremor.”’

Jo Gang-hun wasn’t a nonexistent character. He was originally meant to become a hunter.

But what mattered wasn’t just the name at the top of his status.

It was the age and potential.

GM’s first DLC expansion pack: Consonance.

The core of this “Consonance” update was allowing players to accelerate the awakening timing of existing hunter characters through the Wave Resonance Method.

What? Just moving up an awakening date is enough to release as a DLC?

Never forget GM’s fundamental setting.

‘The younger the awakening age, the higher the potential.’

Being able to interfere with awakening age meant gaining a way to manipulate a character’s potential—something that could never be touched even with cash items.

The proof was right there in Jo Gang-hun’s status window.

‘From age 20 to 18. Potential from 186 to 188.’

His awakening age had decreased by two years, and his potential had risen by two points.

Potential was a value where even a single point could completely transform a character.

For example, the difference between 189 and 190 was enough to separate A-rank from S-rank. And if that number climbed even higher?

‘It could even reach 200 from 199.’

This was sensational.

To those who didn’t know this world or were complete beginners, it might not seem that shocking. Without character data, it would merely look like a slight boost in potential.

But this guy was GM’s number one veteran player. To Lee Shin—the strongest veteran who had seen the ending of every existing hunter character—a means to raise potential by even one point was, to put it mildly…

‘No different from obtaining an editor.’

Several characters immediately flashed through Lee Shin’s mind.

Tragic characters who had been blocked by the wall of potential 1 and never left their mark on history. They blew him heart fingers and appealed to him desperately.

“Arrr.”

Good lord. The unbearable thrill made Lee Shin’s body tremble.

Meanwhile, Jo Gang-hun and his parents, watching from across the grill, swallowed nervously.

‘What the hell? That’s scary.’

‘He’s actually shaking, right?’

‘They said he was a bit strange, but… TV really doesn’t do him justice…’

Chae Dong-ha stared out the window with hollow eyes. Once again, the burden of secondhand embarrassment fell on him.

After the meal, they moved to the training facility.

Now that their stomachs were full, the real game could begin.

“Gang-hun, don’t be nervous. Just listen to me, okay?”

“Y-yes!”

“Good.”

Lee Shin patted the tense young man’s shoulder, then signaled across the room.

There, a camera was capturing the two of them in frame.

Standby.

Action.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Lee Shin, representative of Mir Guild. Why the sudden broadcast with no warning? It’s because the first beneficiary of my ‘Wave Resonance Method’—the one that received so much ridicule and contempt—is here with us today! Allow me to introduce Jo Gang-hun!”

Through the match against Baeksa Guild, Lee Shin had proven the “strategic insight” he had proclaimed.

Now that he had proven “expert insight” as well through Jo Gang-hun and the Wave ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Resonance Method, his momentum shot sky-high—straight past the heavens and all the way to the sun at the edge of the universe.

Lee Shin had two paths before him.

Hide the information and monopolize it alone, or open it all up and gain fame.

Each had clear advantages and disadvantages.

The former allowed him to build his squad more comfortably. The latter would raise the guild’s value and prestige through the fame he earned.

For now, Lee Shin chose the latter.

‘Let’s show them everything while we can!’

If Lee Shin had been a combat-oriented character, he likely would have chosen the former. But the current him was a character who had gone all-in on management.

In that case, raising the character’s own fame along with the guild’s prestige and value was far more efficient.

For the future as well.

“Once you awaken, what’s the first thing you should do? You must identify the abilities you’ve been given—that is, your traits. Obviously, right? You need to know whether you’re a martial type or a magic type before you can train accordingly.”

“So shall we learn how to determine your type? The materials are simple—ta-da! A cup and some water. That’s all you need. Gang-hun, stand right here.”

It was a method that paid homage to the ability identification technique from a legendary Japanese manga.

“Fill the cup with water like this and inject your mana. More, more. Now, depending on how the water or leaves change, you can determine whether you’re a martial type, magic type, or support type. Let’s see…”

“There, you see it? Gang-hun’s water has turned brown like barley tea. This confirms he’s a magic type. Easy, right?”

“Time flies when you’re having fun. Tomorrow we’ll learn how to find your ‘primary attribute.’ See you then.”

This was the key.

It would be foolish to dump everything in one excited burst.

He had to release it slowly, like scattering bait, continuously tying viewers’ attention to himself—to Mir Guild.

Methods to find your primary weapon according to type.

Training methods according to weapon and attribute.

Techniques that utilized compatibility.

Fortunately, he had an endless supply of material to show.

Dozens of nerd developers had been stamping their feet, desperately hoping their inner selves (?) would be inserted into the game. The Consonance DLC was the first step toward that goal.

Obsession at first sight was a human universal trait.

And nerds were even worse.

For the next several days, viewers couldn’t tear their eyes away from the daily barrage of groundbreaking new theories.

To be honest, more than half of them were probably screaming “Is this even possible?” at home. But even they could no longer hurl the same raw mockery and criticism as before.

Because he had proven it. They could feel it.

With two proofs, Lee Shin’s words had gained credibility.

Were the so-called experts any different?

The people who had once criticized and mocked Lee Shin? They had all quietly vanished without a trace.

The journalist who had carelessly pointed fingers was now at home watching his kid, and the old man who had carelessly run his mouth was playing baduk at the local club.

Having tasted this kind of humiliation, even the experts couldn’t help but become cautious when evaluating Lee Shin.

In a ridiculous situation where every existing concept had to be reexamined, the experts of the field were taking this ambiguous stance.

Modern people who hated hassle and were always busy eventually gave up thinking altogether.

— …Memo. I don’t really understand what’s happening, but it seems like something incredible is going on. Anyway, it’s incredible.

— (Okay I understood everything.jpg)

Yes. We should just enjoy it as it is, cheerfully.

That must have been when it started—the community becoming flooded with mysterious Lee Shin memes.

And so, for nearly a month, the entire nation was swept up in Lee Shin fever… when suddenly, Lee Shin himself was staring at his status window with trembling eyes.

“…What the hell is this?”

Why had his reputation gone up when he hadn’t even raised it…?